Acting Royal #Wattys2017

4

ZAYN

He watched her closely as the color drained from her face leaving her ashen. He didn't know why, but he hated hurting her like this. But he also didn't have the luxury of entertaining those feelings right now- they still had so much work to do. He shook this thought from his head and pulled out a briefcase. He slapped it open with a loud click and laid it on the table. Jenny glanced down at it and sat.

He reached into the case and produced a thick document. "Rafiq wrote us a backstory." He slapped the thick document down on the table with a loud thud. "Where we met, how I proposed etc. Memorize it. We don't want to make any mistakes. There's also information about my country and the history of my family, also..." he pulled out a gold plated, diamond encrusted Monte Blanc pen that glistened under the cabin lights.

"Half your salary upfront, the rest will be paid when you end our relationship. There's also a non- disclosure agreement I need you to sign. You are prohibited to speak about this job to anyone once it's over. Not a word about me, who you met, what my family and home are like. If you do, legal action will be taken. And I don't think we want that happening, do we?"

"I wouldn't want anyone to know about this anyway. Trust me." She signed the papers and tossed them back at him with such anger. Shit, he hated seeing her like this.

"There's just one more thing." Zayn dug in his pocket and pulled out a small purple ring box. "It belonged to my great, great grandmother, and it's been in the family for over four hundred years."

He opened the box. A large heart-shaped ruby, flanked by rows of pink diamonds, all set in rose gold stared back at him. It was an old ring and it had been privy to so many wonderful love stories over the decades. But this was clearly not one of them.

"I guess, will you marry me?" he took her hand in his and started to slip the ring on. He was immediately struck by how perfect the fit was and how much it suited her. The pinks and reds went with her hair and fiery disposition, the rose colored gold was unique and different, the shape was bold. It was perfect. As if it had been made for her.

Suddenly the air felt hot and thick and it became hard to breathe. Even though this engagement was nothing more than an empty promise, there was still something so undeniably intimate about putting a ring onto someone's finger, and he could see she felt it too. It was physically tangible and utterly spellbinding.

The exquisite awkwardness of the moment made Zayn's head hurt until it became too unbearable to handle and he pulled his hand away.

"I.. I...I... need to work." Jenny stuttered and pulled the document towards her. He could see she was shaking. She stood up quickly and walked all the way to the other end of the plane. He watched her intently, but something was bothering him.

She thought he was a despicable liar. He didn't know why, but this troubled him. He usually didn't care what people thought of him, but with her it was different. She was driving his crazy.

He didn't feel like himself at all and called for a strong Martini from one of the attractive hostesses. She smiled at him dreamily as he took it and gave him one of those looks. The kind of look that usually ended in one thing; him had him bending her over something. Only he didn't want to. He desire to rip that too-tight little blouse off her had completely left him, instead his thoughts were consumed by Jenny. What was it about her? He murdered the Martini in two sips, before putting his head back and closing his eyes. He was tired, which allowed the alcohol to take a hold and drag him under–

Suddenly he was standing on the cliff outside his palace, but he wasn't alone. He was flanked by his father and other relatives. He looked down and realized he was wearing traditional wedding garments. But who was he marrying?